Although some Northwestern students are willing to brave the frigid weather for a free beer at a fraternity party, many students choose to stay warm instead.
They hibernate in their dorms with friends, sometimes cradling illicit beverages behind closed doors.
Locked in battle with one another, they are focused on just one thing: victory.
They are playing board games.
Board games increasingly are becoming a leisure activity of choice for students at NU. Groups such as Dance Marathon and Greek houses are holding game nights as fund-raisers. Chi Omega hosted a Trivial Pursuit tournament Wednesday night at Norris University Center.
Even without organized tournaments, students who used to party in high school now sweat over games of Trivial Pursuit. Those who spent hours racing cars and picking up hookers in the video game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” now pass the nights engaged in Balderdash.
Granted, students are a nerdy bunch, but why the obsession? Gamers offer a number of compelling arguments for the games that make Saturday night floor parties seem less attractive.
Many find board games an ideal way to overcome the lack of social interaction they think plagues NU.
“It’s more interactive than just watching a movie,” said Music freshman Don Atkins.”It lends itself to just hanging out.”
Playing board games caters to a lot of students’ competitive nature, said Michael Policarpio, a McCormick senior.
“When you can’t really bash your suitemate in, you can bash them in Monopoly,” said Policarpio, who added that he plays board games sporadically.
Some students prefer to test their knowledge with Trivial Pursuit question cards.
“We’ll just sit around and read the trivia off the cards,” said Communication freshman Emily Cash. “We won’t even use the board.”
Aside from Trivial Pursuit, Scattergories, Risk and Balderdash also have emerged as favorites.
Some students think board games are especially suited to solving the problems of dorm life.
“We spend so much time together that finding alternative ways of hanging out is important, and board games give us something different and fun to do,” said Kasey McCormick, a Communication freshman.
But gaming is not as innocent as it sounds. At a university, after all, not all board games are meant to be played sober.
Several games have been bastardized with the prefix “drunken,” such as “Drunken Checkers” and “Drunken Battleship.”
Those who find conventional board games too tame add alcohol as a “punishment” for missteps.
“Any board game is more fun when you are drunk,” said Emily Eckert, a Weinberg senior.
